Cross-linguistic comparison of agreement verbs in sign languages, their inventory sizes and motivation for verb class affiliation

Bibliographic Data

ID21819986
AuthorsKevin Behrens (0000-0002-7595-7486, University of Bremen, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume78
Issue2
Pages221-264
Publication date2025-07-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage Typology and Universals (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1867-8319 • E-ISSN: 2196-7148
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/stuf-2025-2013
OpenAlexW4412899383
LanguageEN
References cited46

Most sign languages have a class of verbs that possess the ability to mark agreement with the subject and/or object by spatial markers within the signing space. The size of this verb class is comparatively small, ranging from zero verbs to as many as 148 verbs. One factor that determines this size is the type of sign language. There are deaf community sign languages, that are spoken predominantly among d/Deaf people, and rural sign languages that emerged in small communities with a higher than usual ratio of hereditary deafness; here, both hearing and d/Deaf people use the sign language. My data of 18 sign languages, including rural sign languages, confirms what has been suggested recently; rural sign languages, too, can make use of the signing space for agreement. My language sample also defeats other previous assumptions about sign languages. For one, the inventories of the agreeing verb class is organised highly differently among sign languages. Their sizes can differ considerably and their makeup shows that semantics and thematic roles play no crucial role in being the motivator for agreement. I conclude that while sign language agreement seems to be universal among deaf community sign languages, the content of the inventory of this class is highly language specific and follows no universal concept as to semantic motivation

Agreement · Linguistics · Modal verb · Sign language · Verb · Computer Science · Hand Gesture Recognition Systems · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

Tools

Open DOI